PARIS (Hurriyet)-French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday for talks that focused on economic relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Anatolian News Agency reported.
In a written statement, the French presidency said the leaders had agreed to expand bilateral relations and trade volume between the two countries and expressed their wish to develop a "strategic partnership."
France said it wants to develop economic relations with Azerbaijan, including those in the field of energy, such as oil and natural gas.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also discussed, according to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily but the French presidency's statement refrained from giving any details about what Aliyev and Sarkozy discussed on this issue.
France is a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and co-chairs, alongside Russia and the US, its Minsk Group, which is mediating a resolution to the conflict.
